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(02 Jan) 110504 Arundhati Roy - Revolts and Rebellions Beyond the hoopla of robust growth rates and hype about the world's largest democracy, India is beset by major revolts and rebellions over a vast area. Some, like the one in Kashmir, are for independence. Others, like the multiple uprisings in what the media call the "Red Corridor" are for the overthrow of the government. These various movements are in response to serious economic and social problems and the racism of Hindu nationalism. The seizure of land, water, and minerals by corporations chaperoned and sanctioned by the state has caused the poorest of the poor to say: No More. They are pushing back. Washington ignores India's internal realities. Instead it sees New Delhi as a hot destination for investment, a bazaar for arms sales, and as a strategic linchpin in its planned anti-China alliance. Arundhati Roy is the celebrated author of The God of Small Things and winner of the prestigious Booker Prize. The New York Times calls her, "India's most impassioned critic of globalization and American influence." She is the recipient of the Lannan Award for Cultural Freedom. She's the author of many books including The Checkbook & the Cruise Missile, a collection of interviews David Barsamian did with her, and Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers. (09 Jan) 110602 Kathy Christison - Settlements: Obstacles to Peace There are some 500,000 Israelis living in settlements on what is almost universally regarded as Palestinian land . The first houses went up in the late 1960s and have continued under both Labor and Likud governments. They are the "facts on the ground" Israeli leaders said they wanted to create. There are freezes, partial freezes, and temporary halts in construction. But the trend in more and more building continues. The stalled peace process goes off track. Road maps are redrawn. The Obama administration vetoes UN resolutions condemning Israeli policy. Benjamin Netanyahu once proclaimed, "Semantics don't matter." You can call a Palestinian state "fried chicken." Land for a Palestinian state has been cut into unconnected bits and pieces without much water. Many people say the settlements pose a serious obstacle to peace and a just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Kathy Christison worked for the CIA as a political analyst, dealing first with Vietnam and then with the Middle East. Since leaving the CIA, she writes and lectures. She is a regular contributor to CounterPunch. She is the author of The Wound of Dispossession, Perceptions of Palestine and co-author of Palestine in Pieces. (16 Jan) 110603 Vandana Shiva - War on the Earth The predatory practices of corporations are increasingly turning our fragile garden into a junkyard. Citizens are told by their political masters and the corporados who pay them that there is no alternative. That's true if one's only concern is profits. That approach is fast turning our planet into a toxic waste dump. The landscape of environmental devastation extends from radiation leaks in Japan to drilling in the Alberta tar sands to hydofracking in Pennsylvania and New York to leveling mountains in West Virginia to more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. However in India, the site of some of the worst corporate abuses, there is tremendous popular resistance. Some of the poorest people anywhere are saying, Stop the plunder. No to the war on earth. Vandana Shiva is an internationally-renowned voice for sustainable development and social justice. She's a physicist, scholar, social activist and feminist. She is Director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy in New Delhi. She's the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, the alternative Nobel Prize and the 2010 City of Sydney Peace Prize. She is the author of many books, including Water Wars, Earth Democracy and Soil Not Oil. (23 Jan) 110703 Helen Caldicott - Hiroshima to Fukushima The disaster at Fukushima has thrust the dangers of nuclear power back in people's consciousness. The idea of an industry renaaissance had been carefully orchestrated by corporations that stand to make tons of money. Politicians, ever mindful of who funds their campaigns, have gone along. It was hailed as a clean and safe solution to addressing climate change and energy issues. An irony of the still unfolding tragedy is that it occurred in Japan, the only country to be attacked by nuclear weapons. The fallout from the fallout has spread around the world. Germany is planning to phase out nuclear power. What would happen if a tornado or some other extreme weather phenomenon hits a reactor? The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it has found serious problems with some emergency equipment that would have made it unusable in an accident. Helen Caldicott, an Australian-born pediatrician, is a world-renowned environmental activist. She was the founding president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the author of Missile Envy, If You Love This Planet and Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer. (30 Jan) 100304 Nomi Prins - Bailouts, Banks and Pyramids Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist comments on the fiscal crisis: "The incentive structures in the financial sector encouraged excessive risk taking. So many of our banks became too big to fail. When you're too big to fail, life is a one-way bet. When you gamble and win, you walk off with the profits. When you gamble and lose, the taxpayer picks up the tab. That's what you've been experiencing. They lost, and we picked up the tab," Stiglitz says. Indeed. The banks were covered and the people were left exposed. And now there is talk about regulatory reform. Excuse the cynicism but it's likely to be a dog and pony show. Why? The foxes are designing the hen house. Wall Street wizards will quickly game the system. Maybe when elks learn to play piano real reform will be possible. Nomi Prins is a former investment banker turned journalist. She worked at Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns. Her articles appear in major newspapers and magazines. She is the author of It Takes a Pillage.